(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a metal nanoparticle that is surface-modified with a hydrophilic or hydrophobic functional group, and a composition for optical detection comprising the same.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Nanotechnology is a technology of manipulating and controlling matters at the atomic or molecular level, and suitable to create many new materials or devices with a vast range of applications, such as in electronics, materials, communications, mechanics, medicine, agriculture, energy and environment.
Currently, nanotechnology has been developed in various fields, and is broadly classified into three kinds of major fields: (1) nanomaterial with respect to compounding new minute matters and raw materials, (2) nanodevice with respect to manufacturing the device to function a fixed ability through arranging or mixing nano matters, and (3) nano-biotechnology with respect to applying nanotechnology to biotechnology.
In the nano-biotechnology field, nanoparticles have been used in a broad range of applications, such as separation of biomolecules, imaging contrast, and drug/gene delivery.
For more effective imaging contrast or detection, nanoparticles should form clusters within a specific range of size, have a surface plasmon in the visible region, and easily perform in vivo flow imaging. Many studies have been made on nanoparticles satisfying these requirements, but there have been no remarkable results yet.